This archive report was first published on 11 June 2020.
Published on June 11, 2020, the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) has announced that at least 30 irrigation farm groups in Garissa County will receive Sh 6 million in grant each financial year.
According to Dr. Ahmed Hasan, the Garissa county ASDSP coordinator, each group will receive between Sh 200,000 and Sh 250,000 annually until the end of the programme in 2022.
The funding programme was described as 'timely' by Agriculture and Livestock CEC Mohamed Shale, who noted that it came at a time when farmers had been adversely affected by recent floods, locust invasion, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
"This support has come at a time when our farmers are faced with a triple tragedy. In December last year they lost their crops to the floods. In early January we had the locust invasion and now the Covid-19," Shale said.
The CEC urged value chain actors producing tomato, beef, and camel milk to come up with valid proposals before August for approval.
Shale also hinted at the possibility of a more aggressive second-generation locust from Yemen through Somalia, following warnings raised by the FAO and other experts.
He assured that the county government was fully prepared to combat the desert locust invasion, with some staff members undergoing training on the matter.
